Cucumber curry recipe
Although technically a fruit, cucumber tends to be treated as a vegetable and is primarily used in salads and other cold dishes. But in Asia you occasionally see it in cooked preparations and while the texture softens slightly in the pan, cooked cucumber still has a nice crunch to it. In this spiced curry the cooling characteristics of cucumber work beautifully with the heating properties of chilli. It’s quite a dry curry so there won’t be a lot of gravy.
Ingredients
For the brown curry powder (makes approx 200g/7oz)- 45 g coriander seeds
- 30 g fennel seeds
- 30 g white peppercorns
- 30 g mustard seeds
- 20 g cumin seeds
- 12 g curry leaves
- 1 g pandan leaf, cut into 5mm pieces
- 15 g cinnamon quill, roughly crushed
- 8 g cardamom seeds
- 11 g turmeric powder
- 11 g chilli powder
- 3 large telegraph (long) cucumbers
- 60 g grated coconut
- 3 cardamom pods, bruised
- 6 g brown curry powder
- 5 g chilli powder
- 7 g curry leaves
- 200 g finely diced red onion
- 3 g fennel seeds
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 2 green bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
- 75 ml coconut cream
- 1 pinch each salt flakes and freshly ground white pepper
- 1 lime, juice only
Details
- Cuisine: Sri Lankan
- Recipe Type: Curry
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 25 mins
- Serves: 6
Step-by-step
For the brown curry powder
- Place a wide shallow frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the coriander and fennel seeds and toast gently, tossing regularly for even cooking. After about 2 minutes the spices will start popping and releasing their aromas.
- Reduce the heat and keep toasting for another 4-5 minutes until the spices start to darken and the aroma becomes stronger and sweeter. Tip them into a bowl.
- Add the peppercorns, mustard and cumin seeds, curry leaves and pandan to the pan and toast over a medium-high heat for 2 minutes or until they start to pop.
- Reduce the heat and toast for another 2-3 minutes until the pepper smell is pronounced, the mustard seeds are not only popping but grey in colour, the cumin darkens and the fresh leaves are dry. Tip them into the bowl with the coriander and fennel seeds.
- Next, toast the cinnamon and cardamom seeds over a medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes, then add to the bowl with the other spices and allow to cool completely.
- Grind to a fine powder and then mix through the turmeric and chilli powder. Store in an airtight container.
For the curry
- Peel the cucumbers a little unevenly, leaving some of the skin on. This adds to the overall texture and flavour of the dish. Slice them lengthways and remove the seeds, then cut them on a slight angle into 2cm (1in) thick slices. Set aside.
- Place the coconut, cardamom, curry and chilli powders and curry leaves into a medium saucepan over a gentle heat. Gently toast, stirring as you go, for 5-6 minutes until the coconut darkens to a golden-brown colour.
- Add the cucumber, onion, whole spices, chilli, coconut cream and 150ml (5fl oz) water.
- Bring to a simmer over a medium heat and cook gently for 6-8 minutes until the cucumber has softened and the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly.
- Season well with salt, pepper and lime juice and serve.
This recipe is from Lanka Food by O Tama Carey (Hardie Grant, £26). Photography ©Anson Smart.
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